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Post Office closure “slap in the face” for Terryglass

Thursday, 5 October 2017

THE PLANNED CLOSURE of a Post Office has been described as a "slap in the face" for the scenic lakeside village of Terryglass in North Tipperary this week, and one which will cause headaches for elderly people in the community who use it regularly.

On Monday An Post announced its decision to temporarily suspend services at the Post Office on Friday October 13 as part of its strategic review of the national postal service.

Earlier this year the Postmaster at Terryglass retired from the local business which lay at the epicentre of the small rural village and An Post decided to close the facility until the national review process is complete.

The decision has been slammed by two Tipperary TDs, Alan Kelly (Lab) and Jackie Cahill (FF).

Deputy Kelly said "the decision of An Post to close the local post office in Terryglass is not good news for the area. An Post has decided to close the Post Office on a 'temporary basis' subject to the a strategic review of the national post office network currently ongoing. My concern is once closed it is hard to see it being reopened. The post office in Terryglass is at the heart of the community and offers a very valuable service to the local people. The post office is a lifeline to a community, it is the heart of a small community like Terryglass, and for older people who visit the post office on a weekly basis this may be their only contact with people. Taking away a post office tears the heart out of a community, and is a serious blow to the community".

Tipperary Fianna Fail TD Jackie Cahill fears An Post won't re-open the office after its temporary closure and the community in Terryglass will end up permanently bereft of their local post office.

"It's a slap in the face," he said, adding that he finds it "very hard to believe that once closed An Post would then decide to re-open it after a strategic review."

"An Post need to answer the very simple question about who is going to provide the local community with access to postal and other services in the Terryglass area.

How do they expect older people or people without access to a car to travel to a neighbouring post office?" he asked.

"What's worse, this decision will remove a central community hub from the village, and is a further example of a government that clearly doesn't care about rural communities," Deputy Cahill said.

Having a post office ensures vibrancy in a village, Deputy Cahill said and warned this decision will "put a shiver down the spine of other communities at risk of having their post office closed."

"This is a government decision - make no bones about it. The Minister for Communications should and could have told An Post not to proceed with these closures, but chose not to," he said.

"The local community will not stand for this decision, and I, as the local TD have their back and will campaign for the post office to be re-opened," Deputy Cahill said.